Like A Cage
by DespicableMe
Summary: Mikan comes to Gakuen Alice, broken. Least to say, Natsume doesn't really like her all that much, expect he can't help but want to help her... without anyone knowing and not realizing it himself.
1. Hummingbird

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any other the characters used in this fanfiction. As of yet.**

_Like A Cage_

_Chapter One – Humming Bird_

I grunted in irritation, pulling my current manga off my face to see why my normally deafeningly loud class has exploded into a louder then life cheer.

Standing in front of the class was a new girl. She had soft-looking auburn hair then bounced around her face, and chocolatey brown eyes that looked almost good enough to eat. She was standing with her knees bent inward, her toes pointed inward, and clutching the hem of her skirt with blush that spread across her face like the great railroad racing over America(and, she was wearing socks that went up to her mid thigh. At first, I found it strange, but I dismissed this, she looked good in them anyway... wait, what?). She bowed deeply to the class, "M-my name is Mikan S-Sakura! P-Please take care of me!" she stuttered, earning another cheer from the class. I stared at the top of her head, waiting for her to look up again.

When she did, we immediately made eye contact. Instead of flinching at my intense gaze, though, she frowned. The least to say, I was confused. There was no one who didn't flinch at my icy glare.

She made her way to the back of the class room, to sit next to me because it was the only seat open. She shyly sat down in her seat and immediately inched as far away as she could, staring out the slightly open window. I grunted softly to myself, rolling my eyes at how childishly she was behaving, and dropped my manga over my face again.

=Mikan's Point of View=

I entered the classroom and was greeted almost instantly by loud wolf whistles and giggles. A blush crept across my face as Mr. Narumi, my now adoptive father and homeroom teacher, introduced me to the class. Another round of much louder cheering. I got nervous.

I almost folded over like a lawn chair as I bowed deeply to the class, stuttering to them, "M-my name is Mikan S-Sakura! P-Please take care of me!" again, there was another cheer, making my face even more flushed. I stayed folded over for a moment longer, waiting for the heat in my face to die down.

When I finally straightened up, the first thing I saw was a pair of crimson eyes glaring intensely at me. It wasn't a mean glare. It was more questioning. Mr. Narumi... I mean, my new father, had warned me about this kid and how similar he looked to _that man. _Though, even though the two had similar hair and similar facial structure, their eyes were totally different. Though this boy's, Narumi called him... Natsume I believe, were cold, they were true. _That man's _eyes were a sickeningly sweet, bright green, and they had always hid away an evil that Mom hadn't seen...

And to answer the boy's questioning looked, I just frowned at him. The look of confusion that flickered in his eyes for a moment made me smile for a split second, but no one, not even the boy, saw it.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I made my way toward the back of the class to sit by this Natsume boy, since it was the only seat open. I knew he wasn't at all like _that man, _but I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. But, I had to be mature had swallow my nerves.

The first thing I did when I sat down was slide as far as I could away from him. Real mature, Mikan. Real mature.

For the rest of the morning, I was sat there, staring out the window up at the sky. This school, it was like a bird, trapped in a bird cage. Though that tiny bird had no freedom, it was safe from the cat that stalked it from the outside. And that little bird couldn't be released until it was strong enough to be set free and could fight off that cat by itself. I frowned at the likeness of the two situations, comparing myself to that tiny bird.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when something landed on my desk in front of me, making a soft thunk sound. I looked down at the hand hand that was laying on my desk. "Mikan, its lunch time." a familiar voice told me. I looked up and almost burst into tears.

"Hotaru! Where'd you come from?"

"I've been going to this school for the past three years, Mikan." Hotaru reminded me, in her usual monotone voice. "But why are you here? Did the government finally find out your mother was trying to hide you?"

I frowned and glanced around, they were alone since everyone else was at lunch. I let a tear slide down my face, "Not exactly." I whispered.

We were walking down the deserted hallway toward the lunch area of the high school when I finished telling Hotaru what had happened between my stepfather and I. Hotaru's face grew darker and scarier with every word I said.

"Where's that bastard now?" Hotaru questioned as we neared the double doors.

"Probably over seas. I was told that alices in other countries are trying to track him down." I murmured quietly, touching my tender arm softly.

Hotaru patted my shoulder reassuringly before we entered the loud, bustling cafeteria. Hotaru and I sat down with a whole bunch of other girls from our class, Hotaru having gotten a tray full of food. I had no appetite, but I took the strawberries that Hotaru offered me, claiming she didn't have the taste buds for sweet things. But she probably just realized that I hadn't eaten for longer then a day.

I nibbled shyly on one of the strawberries, it wasn't much, but I guess I had to eat something.

"So, Mikan." a sweet voice said in front of me, I looked up. A girl with long, dark blue hair smiled at me, "Why have you transferred into Alice Academy so late? Most students with alices are found in their elementary years or even as middle school kids."

I blinked at her, "I'd rather not say." I whispered, looking away from her.

"What's you're alice?" a snotty, permed-haired girl asked. Again, I blinked.

"Nullification."

Everyone around me stared, expect Hotaru, who knew about my back story already.

"What about your star ranking?" asked the same permed-head.

"I was told I was a special star, what ever that is." I told her. Again, everyone stared, and even began to whisper around me before the seaweed head burst out in a fit.

"HOW COULD YOU BE A SPECIAL STAR?" she screamed, pointing at me with an accusing finger, "YOU ONLY JUST STARTED SCHOOL!"

I flinched slightly at her outburst, mentally sinking into a protective shell. My face became expressionless, much like Hotaru's beside me. "So what if I am? I don't know much about this school, or the way it works, so please, tell me what's so special about being a special star." I replied calmly.

Her mouth fell open, and she gaped at me for a moment before falling into her seat once again.

"Are all special stars this cool?" another girl asked in awe. I stared blankly at her. She noticed my look and smiled slightly, "You know, Natsume, the boy who sits next to you in class. Yeah, he's a special star too. He's cool, but I think he kinda thinks he's better then everyone else..."

"Which is true!" Seaweed-head snapped, stuffing her face with a fork full of pasta.

The girl with pink hair rolled her eyes.

I finished that one strawberry I had been nibbling on and pushed the bowl of them away. No matter how much I liked strawberries, I couldn't eat anymore... Maybe just one more, or two. I grabbed two at the last second before getting to my feet. "I think I'm going to go explore." I announced quietly and was gone from the table before anyone could answer. I never noticed Hotaru looking around at my retreating back with a hint of concern in her expressionless eyes.

I walked down the empty hallway and somehow made it out into a court yard that had a single cherry blossom tree standing proudly in the middle of it. I walked toward to and slowly sat down against its trunk, closing my eyes as I rest my head against it.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, I was been shaken by Mr. Nar- my dad. He was staring at me with concerned eyes. I met his stare for a moment before looking past him at the sky. The sun was sinking toward the horizon. Mentally slapping myself, I let him pull me to my feet.

"Are you alright, Mikan?" Narumi asked, looking me up and down. I felt just slightly uncomfortable at his gaze analyzing every inch of my body, as if afraid he'd notice how skinny I was becoming.

"Yeah, I guess I was just tired..." I murmured, looking down at my feet. I had left one of the strawberries uneaten. Where had it gone? I shook the thought away, an animal must have come by and taken it. "I should get to the dorms."

"I'll excuse you for the half day you missed." Narumi said as he led me out of the courtyard and to the door that was connected to the slightly warn pathway that led to the high school dorms. "Go and get some real rest."

I nodded and began the long journey to the dorms. I was walking without subconsciously knowing it. There wasn't any real thought rushing through my head, other then pointing out interesting colors in the stone below my feet, or noticing how one of the cobblestones were slightly more crooked then the others. I was about half way there when I was heard two voices speaking not far away.

"So this Mikan girl, what do you think of her so far?" one voice said. His voice was something of a tenor, gentle, and the man sounded as he if was attractive enough to make any woman melt into his arms at a single word. I crept forward a bit, peaking around the corner of the path to spot to male high school students. Well, I could only see one from where I was standing, but I knew there had to be at least two there.

"I think she's an even more trouble maker then I am. Skipping part of class on her first day." a scruffy, deep voice answered in a growl, "Why do you care anyway?"

The blonde, tenor voiced boy shrugged, "I think she's kinda cute. And who knows, maybe she had to go to the administration office for the second half of the day."

The other voice snorted. "She's definitely not cute."

I saw the visible boy roll his eyes. "You're just pissed 'cause she's a special star too. You're not the only one now."

The other boy didn't retort back.

"So its true!"

"No, I just don't like her. Something doesn't feel right about her..."

"Like what?" the blond said, leaning forward in interest.

"Its like she's keeping a secret away from the rest of us. How do you expect to trust someone like that?" I rolled my eyes at the boy's lame logic.

"She just transferred today, she probably just needs more time to adjust."

I frowned, becoming tired of eavesdropping so I stepped around the corner, acting as if I hadn't heard a thing and began my walk toward the dorms again. The blond instantly shut up when he saw me. The other boy turned around to see what the blond was staring at.

It was Natsume.

I barely made eye contact with him before looking away, shading away my face with my hair. I hurried down the path faster, not looking back around at them.

* * *

I lay on my back, in my overly sized bed that could easily fit two, possibly three, more people. I was staring up at my ceiling, thoughts lingering with the crimson eyed boy. So... he really was a special star also. And he's either jealous of me or he doesn't trust me. Or both, actually.

I closed my eyes and turned on my side.

Oh, I really wanted a hug right now. I used to love hugs, giving or receiving. I'd hug anyone and everyone. The old elderly neighbor, a bum off the street, a completely random stranger in a business suit. I used to always receive strong, warm hugs before both my parents past away. Especially my father. His embrace always made me feel so safe, it made me believe that nothing would ever happen to me. When he died, my whole world had shattered.

I frowned at my thoughts and quickly began thinking of something else. My thoughts drifted back to Natsume. I wondered what he was doing right now. Probably sleeping...

I almost slapped myself.

Why was I thinking about him of all people? Because he was another one of those special star things? Or 'cause he looked similar to _that man?_

I buried my face in my pillow and fell into a restless sleep.

**You may or may not have noticed that this is a shared account with my crack pot friends. *rolls eyes* They may or may not end up posting their uh... special stories up here that involve Shizaya(Izaya x Shizou from Durarara!) yoai... You can choose to ignore them, or read their mind-blowing stories if you want. They're normally nothing but crack though. :3**

**Anyway, I've already finished chapter two, but I think I'll wait before posting it. xD;**

**Anywho, I hope you like this, and prepare for a little bit of angst next chapter~**

**Angsty love, HO~!**

**Oh, and I wanted to apologize if I messed up anything in this chapter. I wrote it while I was still getting back into the Gakuen Alice manga(I was forced to stop reading it because it wasn't on onemanga or mangafox and when I started reading it I didn't have any money.). So, I hope I did better in the next chapter then this one. :'3**

**~ Liz  
**


	2. Canary

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any other the characters used in this fanfiction. As of yet.**

_Like A Cage_

_Chapter Two – Canary_

I was sitting at the desk my head in my folded arms. It was the middle of my second week at the academy and I had yet to really open up to anyone but Hotaru. The rest of the class, excluding Natsume, seemed to be encouraging me to be their friends. Even the seaweed girl was talking to me, in her snobbish way, of course.

Yes, they were all nice enough people, again, excluding Natsume, but I just couldn't get close to anyone at the moment. Especially after what had happened to me.

My eyes drifted closed just to snap open again moments later when a violent image appeared in my mind. These thoughts had been haunting me ever since my horrible experience. It was amazing that I had even fallen asleep that one time against the tree.

Damn, I was getting tired of this.

A finger tapped on my shoulder. My head instantly bolted upward and I whipped around to see that blond boy that had been talking to Natsume on the path last week standing behind me. The next day, I had found out his name was Ruka. He had an odd, but actually pretty cool, alice. Something to do with animals. Geez, I'd like to be able to talk to animals instead of being able to nullify any other alice... Who would want nullification anyway? I had pretty much mastered immunity on myself, but casting it over others while still allowing them to use their alices was... tricky.

Anyway, back to Ruka.

"Mikan, would you like to eat with us at lunch today? The whole class is going outside and eating together as a group." Ruka asked, grinning slightly at me.

I blinked, glancing around, "Oh... Mr. Narumi isn't here again?" I pointed out, I tried not to call him Dad in front of the other students. I saw Ruka shrug out of the corner of my eye.

"Isn't that normal?"

"I guess."

"So are you going to eat with us?" Ruka asked again, grabbing the back of my chair and leaning closer to me.

I felt my face become red due to his sudden approach. Truthfully, he wasn't all that close. I pulled away, nonetheless. "Y-yeah, w-whatever... OK." I murmured, looking away from him with my eyes.

* * *

I leaned against the bench, my eyes half open. Someone was poking me on the forehead with a stick. I ignored them.

It was lunch time and my whole class was sitting around in the court yard, eating their lunches and laughing as a group, minus Hotaru, Natsume, and myself of course.

"Mikan, won't you eat?" Anna asked, waving a hand in front of my face as Nonoko continued to prod my forehead with his stick. I would've snapped that thing in half if I weren't as tired as I was.

"No, I had a lot to eat at breakfast." I told her. Anna, finding this a perfectly fine answer, sat back in her spot between Koko and Seaweed-head, who's name was Sumire I think?

"So have you heard what happened in class A-2?" Yuu squeaked out, twirling ramen on his chop stick before stuffing it in his mouth.

"Yeah, they tried getting close to the gate again, right?" Anna replied, biting into her cake.

Yuu nodded, "But apparently, they saw someone suspicious at the gate this time, just standing and staring at the campus."

"Really?"

"Said they looked really shady."

"Probably just some pedo who wants to... 'meet' the elementary school kids." Hotaru grunted, she was sitting next to me, only actually sitting up on the bench instead of leaning against it on the ground with me. I leaned my head against her knee. "I wouldn't be surprised at all."

I heard Natsume grunt.

"Even an elementary kid could beat up a pedo bear." Koko said, cockily.

"Depends on the kind of alice they have." Ruka told the mind-reader.

I silently nodded, feeling more tired as every word slipped from their lips. My forehead went numb from being constantly poked, or at least I couldn't feel it anymore. I swatted the stick away nonetheless.

Hotaru hit me softly on the top of the head, I looked around at her with a half-frown on my face.

"If you're not feeling well, you should go to the hospital."

My mouth twitched, "No thanks."

Hotaru didn't press me any further, but everyone was now staring at me, now having been drawn to the fact that I wasn't eating and I, and I totally assumed this, looked lethargic. I probably looked like something from a horror movie. And yet they hadn't noticed until now? Nice friends. I mentally shrugged it off.

"Are you OK, Mikan?" Anna asked, "Maybe you should go to the hospital."

"Maybe you should eat something." Nonoko suggested.

I wrinkled my nose, "No thanks."

"Not even a strawberry? I heard from Hotaru you really liked them." Anna grinned, grabbing one of Sumire's strawberries, earning her a look from the said seaweed girl but she didn't say anything. Anna held it to me. I eyed it before getting to my feet.

"I said no thanks. I'm going to go get... something." I said quietly, walking away from the group and toward the classroom.

I gripped the edge of my skirt in my nervous habit, completely avoiding the classroom and walking toward the exit that led to the dormitories. I pushed the door open with almost all my strength and began my walk toward the dorms. I wasn't quite sure why I was going to the dorms, I was just letting my feet wander. But I didn't want to go back to class, all those worried eyes, I didn't want to see them. I pursed my lips.

"Hey. What are you doing?" a voice grunted behind me. I had to be at least half way to the dorms by now, I could have just ignored the voice and kept going. But no, I turned around to meet the crimson eyes of the person last person I wanted to see.

I glared, "None of your business."

"Skipping class?"

"Not like you haven't done it before." I growled. Natsume's eyes narrowed at her. "What's with that look, Hyuuga?" I spat, only glancing at his eyes for a second before looking at his ear. Yes, his ear. I didn't want to look him directly in the eye, I mean, after everything I was put through with... _that man _and how Natsume looked so much like him expect for the color of their eyes. Besides his expression was so intense, it sorta hurt her heart to look at his eyes.

And then he began walking toward me and I backed away with every step he took toward me. Until he pinned me against a tree.

=Natsume's Point of view=

I looked down at the fragile looking, but hostile, girl who I had pinned against the tree. I was a tower compared to her, and, to my delight, fear was present in her chocolate eyes. At least I knew who was dominate in our relationship... Not in a sexual term, damn you perverted people(A/N: not that he's not a pervert himself. ;D).

Now that I saw her up close, I realized how unhealthy she actually looked. There were heavy shadows under her eyes, which were also bloodshot. Her arms were basically twigs, I could probably snap them like a one if I had wanted to. Fortunately for her, I wasn't that cold. I noticed how her cheeks were slightly sunken in, she was beginning to look like a corpse.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" I asked, grabbing her weak wrist and shoving it in front of her face, she flinched before snapping back, there was a look in her eyes that I couldn't quite explain. A mixture of hurt, insanity, depression, anger, and desperation. But there was something else. Like fright or something?

"Why the hell would you care?" she growled, pulling her hand away from me and attempting to push me away. I slammed my hands on the tree, on either side of her head.

"You're pathetic, don't run away from whatever it is that you're trying to escape from!" I growled quietly, looking her directly in the eye, but she avoided eye contact. I grabbed her head, my hands hot with my alice. _Keep it under control, Natsume. _I thought to myself as I forced her to look at me in the eye.

"W-why do you care?" she croaked, eyes filling up with tears as she stared into my own. A single tear fell down her cheek, washing away of single line of make up. I couldn't help but notice the bluish bruise that had been hidden by the make up. I didn't know how big it was, or how she got it, but I didn't ask about it. How much of a klutz could someone be to get a bruise on her face?

Mikan's head slumped forward in my hands, I let go. She instantly bolted away from me only to slow down to a stop and sink to her knees five yards away. I heard her sob once or twice before she fell silent, her body quaking as she hid her tears from me. I pursed my lips before turning away to walk back to the school, "You should really think about going to the hospital." I grunted, stuffing my hands in my pockets and walking away without looking back.

The next day, I sat in my seat in my usual position, feet up, manga on my face. Ruka poked me and my head snapped up, making my manga slide off my face and onto my lap, "What?" I asked, staring at my blond best friend.

"Class is about to start."

"So?" I asked, annoyed.

"Where's Sakura?"

I glared at him, "How should I know? She skipped yesterday's afternoon classes too." I said, picking up my manga and flipping to the next page.

"Oh, you two haven't heard?" Sumire asked, turning in her seat to look at us, "She was found on the path to the high school hospital, unconscious. Apparently from the lack of food and sleep."

I didn't look up at her, or seem to respond at all. My eyes were fixed on the large breasted woman with a katana fighting an experienced warrior in my manga. My heart however, skipped a beat when I heard the news. Still, my face remained cold as a gravestone that was never visited.

Ruka's, on the other hand, eyes widened, "Really?"

"Apparently she's in pretty bad shape. Really underweight and she's covered from head to toe in bruises and knife marks. Like someone tried to kill her or something..." Sumire told them, tracing the top of her mug with her finger.

"That's just a rumor though." Nonoko assured, looking back at us also.

"We should go visit her later." Anna, who randomly decided to join the conversation, chirped in, "And Hotaru, I heard she hasn't left Mikan's side since she was notified. And she's probably allowed to stay there 'cause she's... well Hotaru." the pink haired girl grinned, shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay, what do you think, Natsume?" Ruka asked me, stroking his rabbit.

I looked up at them all and sighed, "Fine, but I won't like it."

* * *

=Mikan's Point of view=

I gasped, gaping for air as if I was underwater. I clutched my head, holding back a scream and tears. That dream. It was the worse yet. _That man. _He had done the unimaginable to me in my dream. And I couldn't fight back, I was too weak to fight back. He hadn't even done that to me when I was forced to live with him, until the academy had saved me and trapped me in my cage. But, he could have. He probably did want to, any insane maniac would want to. He had done just about everything else to me but kill me, and he almost did that.

I let out a heart breaking sob, pulling my bony knees to my chest and hugging myself. _That man _was driving me insane, and he wasn't even here.

"Mikan!" I heard my best friend say, worriedly. I didn't see Hotaru, but she wrapped one arm around my shoulders and did nothing else. After a couple minutes, I finally calmed down and looked around slowly at my strange surroundings.

The room was small, but cozy. The walls were peach colored, the trimming around the window and doors were white with flowers painted on the corners. There was a mounted television on the wall across from my bed and cabinets next to the door that I used led to a bathroom. I blinked, looking around at Hotaru questioningly.

"You're in the hospital, stupid." Hotaru told me, "You were found unconscious."

I stared for a moment for smiling a little and falling back onto the pillows. I noticed that there was an air mask plastered to my face. I touched it disapprovingly, wanting to remove it. Hotaru gave me a look and I left it alone.

"Anyway, the doctor wants to talk to you. I'll go tell the nurse you're awake." Hotaru said, turning away and exiting the room, leaving me alone.

I sighed, looking around to stare out the window. What time was it? How long had I been asleep? I silently waited there, thinking of anything but _that man. _My thoughts settled on Natsume, how he had grabbed my head and made me look into his blazing eyes. For some reason I had just wanted to melt into his arms and just cry. But, I was scared of him at the same time. I felt my emotions begin to fight each other. I wanted to trust him, but I just couldn't.

The door opened and I almost jumped out of my skin. The doctor stared at me behind his glasses before coming up the side of the bed and sitting in a chair. "I have some questions for you. You may take off the mask."

I pulled off the oxygen mask gratefully, laying it down on the bed next to me.

"When did you last eat?" he asked gently.

"I... think it was a week ago, maybe." I said, quietly.

"What about water?"

"About a glass a day."

"Good good." he smiled, scribbling on his clip board. "Where did you get those bruises and cuts? And burn marks?"

I breathed in deeply at the question before looking away, "Do I have to answer that?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I will not share any confidential information. Unless the teachers really must know." the doctor said, smiling at me sweetly.

Sighing, I opened my mouth and said, "My stepfather abused me."

* * *

**I bet you guys didn't see that one coming, HUH?**

**Oh, you did? Well... *runs away***

**Dun worry, there's much more to it then JUST abuse. :'3 We have only just scraped the surface of Mikan's past. *shifty eyes***

**WHO WANTS A COOKIES? :D**

**~ Liz**


	3. Blue Jay

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any other the characters used in this fanfiction. As of yet.**

Like a Cage

Chapter 3- Blue Jay

After what felt like the longest questioning sessions ever, the doctor finally got up and healed all my bruises, cuts, and burns marks with his alice. I blinked in surprise when I saw that I was completely healed of everything but my tiredness and lack of muscle tissue.

"Wow, what an amazing alice, Dr. Imai." I didn't even connect the name to Hotaru at all due to my fascination with his alice.

"Yours is more amazing, Mikan." Dr. Imai said, tucking his clipboard under his arm, "If you weren't as spaced out as you were, I probably wouldn't have been able to heal you." I only frowned at him, too tired to do anything else. "Now, I want you to wear that mask and eat what the nurses give you, or we'll have to feed you through a tube until you're willing to eat on your own."

My eyes unintentionally widened and I slipped my oxygen mask over my nose and mouth obediently. Dr. Imai chuckled.

"Your first meal should be here in an hour or so. And if you get any visitors, we'll make sure to limit it to three or four people per visit." I felt myself nod at his words and he left.

And there was nothing to do now. The clock on the wall, which I had not seen earlier after just waking up, read 11 o'clock. I sighed, reaching for the television remote on the side table and turning it on. My mind wandered to Hotaru, where did she go? Maybe to class. That thought led to thinking about everyone else. Ruka, Permy, Anna, Koko, Nonoko... everyone. And there was Natsume floating to the front of my thoughts again. Why did that guy always seem to be there?

I shook my head frantically as I stopped clicking through channels and decided to listen to some kid's show. Kid's shows weren't scary, always full of happiness and love. They wouldn't remind me of my horrible experiences with my step father, right?

My eyes drifted close as I listened to girls giggling, yelling to each other about flowers, or teddies bears, or something along those lines. Exhausted, I unwillingly let sleep take over me.

In my dream I was a five year old version of myself. I was running toward a tall man, my arms wide to embrace him. The man, who I recognized as my real father, even though his face was blurred out, scooped me into his arms and spun around, holding me up at arm's length as we laughed together. My auburn hair tickled my face as I spread my arms out, pretending to be a bird in flight.

Not long after, we tumbled to the ground, extremely dizzy. I heard a friendly female voice say something that couldn't be understood. I couldn't help but grin widely when I heard the familiar voice and I scrambled to my feet to run to my mother. She pulled me into a bear hug and I cuddled into her, hugging her close.

And then the sky got darker. I looked over my shoulder, still in my mother's arms, looking for my father. Where my father had been laying only moments before, a new man stood. Raven hair, pointed chin, unusually cheerful green eyes. I didn't trust him one bit. I tensed up in my mother's arms and tried to share with her my concerns but my voice didn't work right.

My mother barely noticed me as she began walking toward the new man. She dropped me on my backside, stepping over me and reaching for this new man. I let out a silent sob, reaching out toward my mother.

She didn't even acknowledge me as she took this new man's hand. And the word 'stepfather' registered in my head at that point. My stepfather gave me a wicked look, baring his teeth as he grinned down at me.

Nothing else happened after that, because I was woken up by as nurse coming into the hospital room with a tray of food that I guessed was for me. "Oh, you're awake this time?"

I blinked at her before glancing at the clock which now read 2:35. I had been asleep since around eleven. How long had I been out? I was too lazy to figure it out in my head. And frankly I didn't really care.

"Here you go, don't eat it too fast or you'll puke it back up." _Classy, _I thought as the nurse spoke. She folded a small table over my lap and placed the tray of food on it. I stared at it. Its not like I had been expecting a turkey dinner or something. But really. It was just soup(actually, not even, it had to be just some broth), a roll and some water. I gave her a look before pulling off my air-mask and picking up the spoon I was given to slowly slurp down the soup.

"Oh, there's also some people who came to see you. Is it okay for them to come in?"

I unconsciously nodded, feeling the broth warm my throat as I sipped it.

The nurse left my room, only to be replaced moments later by Hotaru, Ruka, and Natsume. I didn't even acknowledge Natsume when he came in.

"Ah, Mikan. I'm glad to see you're OK." Ruka grinned, taking a seat next to my bed where Dr. Imai had been during most of my questioning. "Hotaru said you were in bad condition, but it seems that her brother fixed you up perfectly."

I blinked at him, confused, before looking up at Hotaru. She gave me a weird look. Then I realized. "The doctor is your brother, Hotaru?" I gaped at her.

"Didn't he introduce himself?" Hotaru asked, eying me.

"I... well... I'm not sure."

"You have the attention span of a peanut." Hotaru insulted, gently.

Natsume grunted, turning and sitting down in the chair farthest away from me. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck bristle like a dog's. "What's your problem, Hyuuga?" I snarled, earning a glare from his crimson eyes. Those eyes, his facial expression, his hair color. I wanted to cringe at it, but I had to stay strong for my sanity's sake. Instead, my cheeks flushed a light red color.

"Nothing at all, Sakura." he snorted, ignorantly, I might add.

Before I was able to retort, Ruka said, "Koko, Nonoko, Anna, and Sumire wanted to visit you too. But Koko got in trouble for reading the substitute's mind. And Nonoko, Anna, and Sumire had to stay after to clean the class room." he informed me.

My attention, completely diverted. I really DID have the attention span of a peanut.

"Oh, OK." I said, swirling the broth around with my spoon. "I'm sure they'll come visit me eventually..."

"So do you know when they're going to release you?" Hotaru asked, sitting down on the corner of the bed, looking at me with those emotionless purple eyes.

I shook my head, sadly, "I have no clue. Soon I hope. I can't stand this broth." I frowned.

"You wouldn't have to eat that broth if you had just taken care of yourself in the first place, Stupid." Natsume's cold voice drifted toward me. It took just about all my will power to not throw my bowl at his head.

"Stop judging me, Hyuuga." I shot at him, blood rushing to my head in anger.

"You get mad way too easy." he pointed out.

"Do not." I said, trying to be calm.

"Then are you just trying to act like you're calm?" he asked, looking me up and down, "Or are you constipated?" My hand found the roll and I threw it at him, unable to control my, somewhat, uncharacteristic anger. Years and years ago, I had once had a temper that would rival a volcano, that had changed over the years, though, especially after my mother got remarried. But now that temper was coming back. Why? This school, mainly Natsume, was making me go insane, of course!

Natsume caught the roll without trouble. He stared at it for a minute before getting up, walking over to me, and placing it back on my tray, "You should eat it. Or I'll burn it to a crisp." he threatened, slyly. I glared up at him.

"Burn it to a crisp, huh? I'd like to see you try."

"I would, but I don't use my alice for unnecessary things."

"So I take it you have the burn-things-to-a-crisp alice." I shot at him. I heard Ruka chuckle and I swear I saw a smile on Natsume's face for a split second. It must have been my imagination. Or something else, because honestly, I don't think I could ever imagine him smiling.

"No, more like a fire alice." Natsume corrected me, leaning closer and glaring at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, if you're trying to use some second, hidden alice to seduce me, its not going to work." I retorted, feeling my face go hot at his closeness. I wanted to push him away, but Hotaru would probably get mad at me if I used so much strength to make him go away.

"Doesn't look like that to me." Natsume smirked, straightening up and turning to leave. "I'm going, see you Ruka."

And ever since then, he came to see me everyday, with or without everyone else. Most of the time he was with Ruka and Hotaru, or whoever had blackmailed him to come along. But on occasion, he gave me a surprise by showing up by himself. It made me happy... mainly because I got to throw food at him whenever he was being a jerk. Like that one time I had gotten out of bed and stumbled forward.

I pulled the covers off my legs, I had finally been allowed to get out of bed when my weight was slowly returning to normal. That's when he came in, no one else was around him so this was one of those odd occasions when he seemed to actually care about me.

I was about to crawl under my sheets again when I saw his eyes travel up and down my bare legs. I resisted the urge to, though. It was hard, but I had slowly forced myself to become used to him looking similar to _that man, _but there was something about Natsume's gaze that made me want to shy away, not in fear either.

"You're finally going to get off your lazy ass?" was the first comment out of his mouth. I immediately pouted, swinging my legs from the bed and standing up. I took one step forward and lost my balance. I waited for the impact for the cold hospital ground.

It never happened.

Instead, Natsume had been quick enough to get across the room and secure me in his muscular arms. I felt my cheeks grow hot. Oh shit, I must have started running a fever! That was the only explanation!

"Oh, looks like you're getting ahead of yourself, Polka Dots." I heard the smirk on his voice.

I pulled back, though he didn't let go of my arms. I whacked him on the chest, "Well excuse me, if you were confined to the bed for two weeks... Wait, what did you call me?" I asked him through gritted teeth.

"Pol-ka Do-ts." Natsume pronounced slowly, closing the gap between our faces with every syllable. Completely unfazed, I turned, grabbed the water the nurse had given me earlier and splashed it over his face. He let go of my arm and stumbled backwards, whipping his face with his hands. "What the hell was that for?" he grunted, glaring at me.

"You're a pervert! I can't believe you looked!" I growled. You know that temper I had mentioned earlier? Yeah, it was back. Shoot, wouldn't you be mad if some perverted teenage boy saw your panties and started nicknaming you after them? No? Not even a little annoyed?

"Takes one to know one." Natsume retorted with a toothy smirk. I simply shot him a glare before crawling back into the bed. Natsume eyed me, "You didn't happen to drink some of that water before tossing at me, did you?" he asked, slyly.

"Yes, why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. It hit me when he touched the corner of his mouth with his index finger, suggestively. "You're so immature!" I shouted, "Just because you got some of it in your mouth doesn't mean anything!"

"But it was still an indirect kiss."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that. It took me a minute before my brain came to a thought. "Ha! But only you received it!" I grinned, proud of myself for coming up with some kind of retort.

In a matter of seconds, his face was hovering inches from mine, "Don't make me give you a direct one when I don't even like you." he said, raising an eyebrow.

My face grew hot again. Why were these fevers so weird? Since when did they come and go so easily? "If you don't even like me, why do you even come to visit me?" I questioned, moving away from him.

He straightened up, rubbing the back of his head, "I- you're my classmate. Why else would I come visit you?" For some reason, I felt disappointed at his answered. Why? How the hell would I know? It was probably this stupid fever.  
But yeah, it was awkward after that for about five minutes until he began walking away and slipped on the wet spot on the ground. I swear I hadn't laughed so hard in such a long time.

* * *

"I still don't trust you completely, by the way." Natsume murmured. It had been a good twenty minutes of peace and quiet. I had almost forgotten he was sitting on the bench next to me. Today was the day before I was released from the hospital and could go back to class. After a month and a half I was walking around and was even allowed in the little garden area of the hospital that Natsume and I currently sat in. I was still pretty skinny, but apparently my attitude had changed drastically, so I would be healthy again in no time.

"Why's that?" I asked, leaning forward off the bench slightly.

He eyed me out of the corner of his eye, "Are you hiding something?"

"Aren't we all?"I replied quietly, kicking a stray pebble that was at my slipper clad feet. "I'm sure you haven't told everyone everything about yourself."

His crimson eyes narrowed at me, "I'll find out eventually, Polka, whether you tell me or not."

I smiled nervously before changing the topic quickly, "Today is really pretty, isn't it?" I grinned, getting up from where I was sitting and rushed down the path a meter or two away from him and spinning around in the white hospital gown I was forced to wear to face him.

He was staring at me stupidly. After a moment I smiled. "Blue skies and everything!"

=Natsume's Point of View=

I blinked at Mikan, trying not to express my surprise in my face. Her wavy hair bounced around her pale face. Her chocolate eyes that had been filled with fear and emptiness only a few weeks ago were now filled with a cheerfulness that I wished I myself had. And the hospital gown, although downright ugly, but necessary, was clean and white like an angel's gown.

She no longer wore those long socks that hid her long, creamy legs. Yet another mystery about her I couldn't solve. Why had she even worn those things? They did nothing to falter her body in the least. And her body was amazing...

I mentally slapped myself.

She then smiled at me, making her look more like an angel then before, "Blue skies and everything!"

I couldn't stop myself. I smiled and nodded my head. "The bluest."

In a matter of weeks, she looked like the happiest person in the world. I don't know how it happened. Hotaru must have done something.

* * *

**Aww. xD They're both so clueless. Natsume thinking that Hotaru must have done something to make Mikan happy. *sighs* Dun worry, he'll pick up on it, eventually. ;3**

**I was tired of writing emo Mikan. D8 Her transformation wasn't too rushed, was it? I mean, six weeks passed in this chapter. +O+ *Shot* Dun worry, dun worry. More drama soon. This was just the calm before the storm. ;3**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. +O+ And favorited/added/whatever else you awesome people did. :3 'Cause you people are awesome like that. *shot for the cheesiness***

**~ Liz**


	4. Robin

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any other the characters used in this fanfiction. As of yet.**

Like A Cage

Chapter 4- Robin

I pulled on my shoes, excitedly. Today was the day I was finally allowed to go back to class, even though it was noon and I had already missed half of it. I grinned at the small bouquet of flowers that everyone had picked from around the campus. There was one flower in particular I loved out of all of them. It was a vibrant red one that reminded me of the grouchy, crimson-eyed boy that I had made smile just yesterday. I grinned fondly, as I remembered what happened.

_"Natsume, is that a smile I see?" I asked, staring at him in disbelief._

_ Natsume's eyes widened for a split second before he smacked a hand over his lips. "No, of course not. The sun must be tricking your eyes."_

_ I silently stood there. After a good minute of just staring at him, I began to giggle. My giggle transformed into a full out, legit, laugh, making my eyes tear up in happiness._

After I had begun laughing, though, he began to chase me. We were running around like two complete idiots for a good ten minutes before a nurse spotted us and scolded us, mainly Natsume, about chasing after a patient who was still rather weak.

The memory only made me smile more though, Natsume's face had been absolutely priceless.

I gazed down at the red flower gently before going over to the mirror and weaving it into my hair. It wasn't too small, or too big and lay over my ear perfectly. "I think he'll like it." I grinned and began to pull my hair tie from around my wrist to pull my hair back. I stopped midway, deciding against it. I had been wearing my hair back for a while. It was probably unhealthy to keep it like that all the time.

As I left the room, there were shouts coming from down the hallway to my right. I looked around only to be bowled down to the floor by some other student. I landed on my backside, thank goodness I had listened to the doctor's orders. If I hadn't I probably wouldn't have a butt to cushion my fall and most likely broken my tail bone.

I was about to snap at the bowling ball that had knocked me, the poor pin, over, but stopped. He was crouched over me, hands on the floor on either side of me, face inches away from my own. Of what I could see of him, he had the most mischievous and curiousity-filled dark eyes I had ever seen, messy black hair that was covered with some sort of cap, and a star tattooed under his left eye.

"So you're the new special class student!" the boy grinned, jumping to his feet and holding out a hand to me. "I'm Tsubasa Andou! You can call me Tsubasa though. No need for formalities. Your name is Mikan Sakura right? Is it OK if I just call you Mikan?"

"Eh? Special class? Tsubasa... formalities? Mikan." I was trying to register it all as he pulled me to my feet. We didn't even get a chance to let go of each others hands when we heard more yelling coming from down the hall. I peered over his shoulder to see a large man running at us. I flustered.

"OI, ANDOU!" he shouted, drawing closer to us.

"Oh ho! Looks like we're gonna have to talk later. For now we've gotta run!" Tsubasa said in a sing-song voice and began pulling me behind him as he ran.

"Wait, what's going on?" I managed to say after running a few meters down the hall.

"Like I said, can't talk right now!" Tsubasa yelled back at me.

He turned a corner, taking me with him. There was nothing but a dead end with a window. "Well, looks like this is where we make our grand escape! The school's gonna kill me though." I saw him grin mischievously out of the corner of my eye.

"What are you think- WHOA!" I yelped and he swung me up into his arms, bridal style.

"Hold on!" Tsubasa commanded me with a wink. And then the maniac rushed toward the window and smashed through it using his shoulder.

I couldn't help myself.

I screamed bloody murder and I think I nearly suffocated him with my iron grip around his neck. Who did he think he was? Superman? He just crashed through a window that was three stories high! And I was the unwilling passenger!

Nonetheless, he landed gracefully on his feet. I was totally shaken though. I could almost feel my soul slowly slithering its way out of my body. There is such a thing as being scared to death, you know.

"Yo guys! Operation Save the Newbie is complete!" Tsubasa yelled, making me mentally force my soul back into my body.

"You didn't kill her in the process, did you?" a girl with pink her asked, coming out from behind the trees with a good amount of other students from elementary school kids to Tsubasa's age, who, now that I had a slightly better look at him, looked like a third year in high school.

"Ah.. I don't think so." Tsubasa said nervously, finally placing me down on my feet and poked my forehead to see if I was alive.

"Hey!" I snapped, "What was that for? 'Operation Save the Newbie'? What the hell is that!" I said, angrily.

"When we heard our new classmate was stuck in the hospital, we figured that you were in some sort of trouble. Like Sleeping Beauty! Or Snow White!" Tsubasa told me, shrugging his shoulders, "And I decided to take on the roll of the Knight in Shining Armor!" he said gallantly, a spark lighting up in his eyes.

The pink haired girl came up and whacked him upside the head, "Snow White was poisoned and Sleeping Beauty was under a spell, not trapped in some sort of tower. You're thinking along the lines of Cinderella."

"Tch, how am I supposed to remember that? When I was younger, I was playing with toy cars and dinosaurs, not fantasizing about Prince Charming." Tsubasa grumbled, rubbing where she had hit him.

My mouth twitched as I opened it, "I... didn't really need help. They were releasing me today. I was about to leave when you bowled me over!" I told Tsubasa. He and the still unnamed girl just stared at me.

"Well, that ruins the whole thing."

"I think it's kinda funny."

"You would, you didn't have to smash through a window."

"Well, neither did you! I'm sure you could have slipped past Jin-Jin some other way."

"But that wouldn't have been fun!"

I stared at the pair as they bickered. I slowly began to back away from the crowd. Maybe if I was quiet, I could sneak away.

"Oh, wow, you're cute." someone said, capturing my shoulders with their arm. I looked around to see a tall, long haired boy with a cocky grin on his face. "Mi-kan, right? Wanna spend the night in my dorm tonight?"

_DANGER, DANGER! _My mind screamed, I quickly jumped away. I stared at him in horror. He was probably the tallest of everyone in the area, possibly the oldest, looking the most mature out of the group.

"Ah! Tono don't scare Mikan like that!" I heard Tsubasa yell. I saw Tsubasa tackle the long haired boy to the ground. The unnamed girl, meanwhile, wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind me in a loving hug. I looked around to see her resting her chin on my shoulder.

"Welcome to the family, Mikan!" she grinned.

There was a loud crack in the air as lightning barely missed Tsubasa and Tono as they rolled across the grass. Everyone in our group turned to see Mr. Jinno standing with his wand pointed toward them. "Why aren't you kids in class!" he roared, thrusting his wand into the air.

"Oh, its time to run!" the pink haired girl laughed, grabbing my hand and beginning to pull me away as the other students began to run away toward the high school. "Let's go home, Mikan!"

"Home?"

* * *

"There are four separate classes for every type of alice." the pink haired girl told me as we settled down in the Special Class's class room, or 'home' as they referred to it. I had earlier learned that her name was Misaki and was Tsubasa's best friend. Honestly I thought they were dating the way they had started fighting back at the hospital. "Predisposition, active, technology, and special."

"People in predisposition have more common alices, like flying. Or control of the elements." Tsubasa explained.

"While active deals with people with alices like super speed and Narumi's pheromone alice. And technology... well. It's pretty self explanatory." Misaki continued, "And special class is where the people with alices that don't fit in the other classes go. Which is fine. The special class is small, so it just makes it feel more like family then anything else."

"So basically, every class is like a soup." I said after a moment of registering it. They all stared at me. "Like, the common group could be like... tomato soup. Active is like chicken noodle. Technology would be... calm chowder or something. And we're... gumbo."

"Why gumbo?" Tsubasa asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"You can put anything in it." I explained.

They all stared at me, "I guess that's one way to put it." Tono said as he slithered his arm around my shoulders again. I moved away from him. And I thought Natsume was a pervert...

"Eh, Tono, you should flirt with girls your own age." Misaki scolded the long haired high school boy.

"Aw, but she's only three and four years younger than me." Tono cooed, reaching for me again. I scooted away as far as I could, til I was almost sitting in Tsubasa's lap. Tsubasa wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him and bopping me on top of my head with his fist.

"Hey, Tono, don't mess with my daughter like that. She's family now."

"Daughter?" Tono glared, "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said, she's family now."

"But why daughter?"

"Because we look so alike!" Actually, we looked nothing like each other. "And Misaki's the mother!" Tsubasa grinned, flashing Tono a peace sign.

Misaki hit Tsubasa over the head again, this time almost knocking his hat off his head. "Why am I suddenly the mother?" she asked, eying Tsubasa wickedly.

"'Cause, who else would take the job if I'm the father?" Tsubasa winked at her.

"Not me." Misaki said, irritated.

"Aw c'mon, our daughter is cute!"

"She looks nothing like either of us!"

"She inherited my amazing, silky hair." Tsubasa smirked, petting my hair.

I pulled away from him, clearing my throat, "So if this is a class, where is the teacher?" I questioned, looking around at the small amount of students gathered in the room.

"Our teacher is Mr. Nodacchi. He has the time traveling alice, so he's barely here. But he's awesome, sorta like a father to us all." Misaki told me, "Like I said, we're all incredibly close."

"I see." I smiled. It was amazing. The special class, and how they were closer then I had seen anyone, not even the relationships of my homeroom classmates could rival the one in the special class's. Exactly like a family you'd see in sitcoms, but this was real. And they wanted me to be part of their family. They had the choice of excluding me, but they didn't. And they had even tried saving me from the hospital, which I still didn't quite understand why they wanted to do that. Weren't hospital's good places for the most part?

"HEY! If you're the father than what am I?" Tono shouted. I guess I had dazed out, because everyone was running around the classroom now, using their alices at will. I looked around to see Tsubasa standing in some odd position with Tono mimicking him exactly.

"You're the drunk uncle who likes little children!" Tsubasa replied, beginning to move in some sort of weird dance which Tono copied perfectly.

"Will you stop that!" Tono yelled as he bowed to a clapping audience.

"Ah! But everyone enjoys seeing you dance like a baboon! In fact!" Tsubasa crouched down and wrote something I couldn't see on the floor with his finger. "Keep dancing for fifteen more minutes!" Tsubasa grinned, beginning to walk away from Tono.

"Tsubasa!" Tono whined as he continued the dance routine over and over. "Misakiii..." the long haired boy cried as Misaki walked past him, mostly ignoring him. She stopped only to say;

"You deserve it for trying to grope Mikan when she was spacing out."

Wait, how long had I been spacing out for exactly?

* * *

I walked down the halls of the high school dorms, toward my room. I sighed. Today, other then the first shock, had be really fun... with crashing through a window and all. I made friends with all my new classmates. Especially Tsubasa and Misaki. But the scary thing was that Tono lived and slept in the same building as me.

Shivers ran down my spine as I thought about my more-perverted-then-that-grouchy-crimson-eyed-boy senior. I'm sure I wasn't his only victim, right?

I pushed my door open and locked it, just in case Tono hadn't learned his lesson from his embarrassing dance earlier today. I walked over to my window and opened it with a grin. I had never opened it beforehand, because I would've had nightmares about _that man _climbing through my window.

I fell on my bed, taking the flower from my hair. It had been the only one I hadn't lost during the grand escape from the hospital. I was slightly hurt that I had lost all my flowers, but I was glad this one had survived. Why? I wasn't sure. I wanted to say it was because it was beautiful, but that would have been a lie. Sure, it reminded me of Natsume, but there as something else about the flower that made me want to keep it forever.

So I looked for a book, any book. I found one of my textbooks that I had barely used laying on my desk innocently. I opened it to around half way and gingerly lay the flower down between the pages before I closed it over the flower to preserve it.

It was just such a shame that Natsume never saw that I had put it in my hair. Wait, no. What was I thinking? He probably would have made fun of me anyway.

I fell onto my bed, holding my textbook to my chest. I was almost asleep when I heard something heavy land on my window sill.

**

* * *

**

**_Update after uploading: Ughh_**, **_I found so many grammar mistakes and stuff after I uploaded this. *feels ashamed* I need to edit this better. =w=_**

**Oooh, two chapters in two days. I feel proud of myself. ;D**

**I wanted to introduce Tsubasa with a bang. Did it work? 8D**

**No? T_T? Oh well. XD I personally think he's adorable.**

**And I wonder what landed on Mikan's window sill. Ho ho ho. ;D**

**By the way, you know how this account is shared with my two friends? I'm thinking about making a separate account. :3 Should I? Unless there's a way to change this account's email to my own.**

**See you next chapter~**

**~Liz**


	5. Dove

Like A Cage

Chapter 5 – Dove

I lay there totally silent as my heart raced like one of those nascar cars. And my brain was screaming at me to get up and run away like some sort of crazed racing fan. My body didn't listen to it though, it was like a stalled car, just waiting to be pushed into the repair area. Why I was comparing myself to a race track was beyond me.

Whatever, whoever, had landed on my window sill was now on the wooden floor. I felt the thing grow closer to me. I think it was a human, but I wasn't too sure. It retreated back to the window. I almost thought it would jump back out but it didn't.

"She's asleep! Come on, jump!"

Yup, definitely human if it could speak human.

There was another thunk on my window sill. "She's not asleep." the oh too familiar gruff voice said from the window sill. I almost shot up and threw my text book at him, but I restrained myself.

"What do you mean, she sure looks asleep to me."

"Her breathing, the way she's twitching her eyebrows angrily. She's awake." a pair of footsteps approached me on my bed, "Hey Polka, you should have at least put on pajamas before trying to sleep. And maybe you shouldn't study too much, or your brain would fry up like an egg on a hot day."

My textbook barely missed his oh so cocky face. "Why are you here, jerk?" I glared, "Its the middle of the night, and you broke into my room. And its not even on the first floor! How'd you get up here?" I asked, getting up on my bare feet bed to stand as large as I could. I never really noticed until now that Natsume was almost a foot and a half taller then me. Screw genetics to hell.

"Ruka's Alice, and that tree just outside your window." Natsume smirked, leaning forward to counter my get-bigger-get-scarier idea.

I, unfortunately, shrunk back by habit. I then pouted and pushed him away, he didn't resist and took a step back. Oh, I felt macho now! I could push the great Natsume away with just one hit! Well, not really. "Fine, then you can just leave now!" I growled, storming over to the door and grabbing the handle. I pulled without turning.

I ended up landing on my back while the doorknob rolled away under my bed. I felt their stare's of disbelief written over their faces without even looking at them.

"Smooth move." Natsume said, sarcastically.

"Mikan..." Ruka whispered in a dark tone.

I turned my head to look around at them, my body didn't dare follow. "I d-didn't mean to!" I cried, rushing to my closet before either of them could do anything. I closed and locked my closet door.

Ruka sighed, "Well this is a really old building. So it can't be helped." Natsume grunted, "Natsume, can you burn it down?"

"It'd probably take the whole building with it." he mumbled. I heard him sit down on the corner of my bed. "You, Polka, how long do you intend to stay in there?"

I frowned, "Don't call me Polka." I murmured, I don't even think either of them could hear me through the closet. And it was a good thing they didn't see me either, because I could feel that fever coming back.

There were two boys in my room, and yes, I was worried. Things happen with raging hormones at night. At night, things that are normally unmentionable during the day happen. I turned around, facing my clothing that hung on their hangers silently.

I had to stop thinking about that. Ruka was here, he was too nice to do that kind of thing. And he certainly wouldn't let Natsume do it. I began to change into my nightwear. It wasn't much, just a pair of white, work out shorts that stopped a bit over my upper thigh and a tank top that had white and red stripes running across it. There as a knock on my closet door.

"Mikan are you alright?" Ruka asked, sounding concerned. "You've been in there for awhile."

I smiled slightly. Ruka was so kind, "Yes, I'm alright, I was just changing." I told him as I pushed the closet door open to reveal myself. "I wouldn't want to go to sleep in my uniform, would I?"

Ruka's eyes fluttered to the side and his cheeks turned pink, "Your pajamas are cute, Mikan."

"Thank you Ruka." I sent him a smile before turning to my bed. I almost erupted like a volcano. Natsume was sprawled across the bed, with his shoes on and everything. Who did he think he was, the king of the whole dorms? Well, maybe he was.

"Hyuuga! Get off my bed!" I hissed, prodding him with one of my bare feet. He turned his head to look at me. His intense red gaze met my annoyed chocolate one. "Who said I was going to let you guys stay here overnight anyway?" I blurted out of anger.

Natsume made a sound and sat up, "Fine, if you don't want us here, we'll just leave and get in trouble with the teachers." he said, getting up from the bed and heading toward the window.

My mouth fell open, "Wait no! Don't go if you'd get in trouble!" I stumbled forward and grabbed his shirt. He looked back at me with a bored look. His gaze made me fluster slightly. I broke our eye contact shyly. "Why would you get in trouble?"

"You're not allowed to be outside the dorm after a certain time," Ruka explained almost immediately, like he had just been waiting for the opportunity to say it. "If you're not inside by that time, you get locked out of the dorms and you get in a lot of trouble. We're already IN a lot of trouble, so we tried looking for a window that was open and this was the only one."

I swallowed and I looked around at Ruka, trying to keep from looking at Natsume. "You're already in trouble?" I asked, giving him a look.

Ruka smiled, sheepishly, "We're always in trouble."

I pouted slightly, "Alright. Fine. You can spend the night in here, but I want you out of my room before sunrise!"

"How do you plan to get out of your room with the door like that?" Natsume smirked, leaning toward me. My hand, which had still been holding his shirt, snapped away as if I had been holding something hot.

"I'm- I'll figure something out." No, no, no! I could feel that fever coming back. Why did it always come back when Natsume was around? I turned away and began crawling under the covers, "Just don't do anything, or I'll kick you out of the bed."

"Why would anyone want to do something with you?"

=Natsume's Point of View=

Mikan's reaction was almost priceless. Her face went as red as a tomato and she began to stutter quietly to herself. I knew exactly what she was saying too. Things like "Natsume, such a pervert." What? I'm a guy, everyone of us has some sort of skeleton in their closet. Ruka even does. And I'm guessing that every woman does too.

Minutes later, we were settled down under her covers(Ruka and I were forced to sleep in our uniforms since it was obvious that none of her clothes would fit us.). It was quiet for a moment before Mikan finally started to complain.

"Why am I in the middle?" she moaned in agony, sitting up and taking the sheets with her. "Ruuuka, switch places with me so I'm not next to him."

Ruka blinked tiredly at her, "Mikan, its not such a big deal. Just think of it as a sleep over with other girls. Imagine Natsume with a bra and the works." his face went pink at the embarrassing thought. On the other hand, Mikan giggled.

"That's such a strange mental image." she turned to me and looked me up and down, "You know I can almost imagine it."

Oh, she was basically asking me to take off my shirt. I smirked and pushed myself up. I couldn't help myself, I unbuttoned my uniforms undershirt and threw it on the floor with mine and Ruka's blazers. Mikan's eyes widened at my action.

"Try imagining me as a girl now, Polka." I said, leaning toward her with a smirk. Her face went beat run and I swear I never saw anyone move as fast as she did as she dove under the covers, facing away from me, toward Ruka. I would have laughed so hard if it weren't the middle of the night, in a girl's dorm room, and the fact that I was Natsume Hyuuga.

She was asleep soon enough, leaving Ruka and I to awkwardly not stare at her. Well, not I at least. Ruka was very twitchy with his eyes. He was making things very weird and I just wanted to punch him to stop it.

"Natsume, do you like Mikan?" Ruka asked suddenly, a pink blush running across his cheeks innocently as he stared at me over the said girl's head.

I frowned, "Do you?"

"I take that as a yes."

"And I take that as one too."

Ruka chuckled, "I won't loose to you, you know."

"I have no clue what you're talking about." I replied, twirling a lock of Mikan's hair that was pulled into a pony tail. "I can't like a girl who wears polka dots panties. So childish."

"But that's her charm. Her personality is really refreshing."

I leaned against my arm on the bed silently, staring down at my fingers, bored. "Then you can have her. Though, she's kind of dense, so you'll have to be blunt about your strange feelings."

Ruka grinned uneasily. "You sure?" he asked, "I mean it sure seems you've grown attached to her. You gave her a pet name and everything."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a pet name." I retorted, rolling to face the wall, "Goodnight, Ruka."

I felt his uncertain eyes burrow into the back of my head before he finally settled down. It took Ruka a while to fall asleep. Me? I couldn't get to sleep. I felt uneasy about the conversation I just had with Ruka. Me? Sure? About not liking her? Please! I was as unsure as a little kid lost in a house of mirrors. Wait no, that's wrong. I was so sure, I could be the surest man in the whole world.

I looked around at her. She had turned to face me now, her chest rose and fell gently, her hair that she had put up was becoming loose in her sleep. She looked more angelic then ever with the moonlight from her window caressing her face. I couldn't help myself, I stroked her cheek where the moonlight touched it so innocently.

Before I knew it, she unconsciously pulled herself to me and cuddled against my still bare chest. I was half taken aback and was about to pull away when she shivered. It ran through her body and I swear I felt the ground move. Her breath was hot against my neck, but I restrained myself from doing anything other then pulling her into a comforting hug. Was she having a bad dream? I guessed what she could be having a bad dream about. Thunder storms, ghosts, all that kind of crap that girls could be afraid of. I rolled me eyes and just let her cling to me.

I didn't get any sleep that night. At dawn, I got out from under the covers like a cat and crawled over the sleeping duo. It had to have been at least five in the morning, the dorms would be unlocked soon and everyone would roaming around once they were allowed out.

Mikan had held onto me all night through, whimpering and frowning occasionally. I oddly found myself worry when she did. Me? The great Natsume? Worry? This was new.

I shook Ruka's shoulder to wake him up. "Oi, Ruka. Wake up or she's gonna stab you." I grunted, picking up my uniform from the floor and beginning to pull it on again.

Ruka sat up almost immediately, he was a light sleeper after all. "Morning, Natsume." I simply nodded in reply. We were about to jump through the window again when Mikan sat up and yawned.

"Good morning." she said tiredly when she saw us standing by the window. She literally rolled out of bed and began sluggishly walking across the room, toward her bathroom, but stopped when she realized we were there. She turned at pointed at us accusingly and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL?"

"Not so loud, Polka." I grunted, shoving her window open and stepping on the sill, "You let us stay in here last night 'cause you didn't want us getting in trouble, remember? We were just about to leave."

I could almost see the memories from the previous night swirling around in her head. After a moment of silence she whispered, "Right, I broke the doorknob. How am I supposed to get out."

"Jump." I said simply, gesturing toward the window.

She looked as if she was going to be sick at the mere thought of falling from a window, "I'd rather not jump from a window two days in a row. Thanks."

I was about to ask why the hell she was jumping out of windows with her body still not completely healed, but Ruka cut in, "Well, someone probably heard you scream just now. Continuing yelling as if you had just lost the doorknob and someone is bond to help you." he said, as calmly and cool as he could. He turned to me then, "We should go now."

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to jump out the window, hearing a gasp from Mikan as I disappeared from her sight. Ruka's whistle sounded from above and I knew he had called his eagle to help him down, since he wasn't as physically fit as I was.

When we finally got to class about four hours later, Mikan was surrounded by just about all the girls in our class. And it looked as if some of the guys had joined as well. Tch, she wasn't cute enough to give attention to. What were they thinking?

=Mikan's Point of View=

"Mikan, are you alright? You just got discharged from the hospital and then you got stuck in your room. Was it horrible?" Anna asked in her sweet, charming voice.

I couldn't help but smile just slightly, "No, because I knew that someone would come help me, eventually." I told her, twirling my pencil around in my fingers nervously. I wasn't used to such a large crowd around me. Even some of the boys were standing there to hear what she had to say. Sure, the special class had been fairly large, but they seemed to realize my uneasiness and let me have my space, excluding Tsubasa of course.

"That's good." the pink haired girl sighed, "I made cake today for lunch, would you like some later?"

"Oh, yes please. I'm sure it will be great!" I said, trying to keep my cool with all the eyes baring down on me. Please make it stop... I wasn't that special, was I?

Then a familiar voice spoke a single syllable that made everyone look away.

"Oi." Natsume grunted, walking toward my group and stood there with Ruka by his side with a rabbit cuddled against his chest. "Why are you all bugging her? She just got out of the hospital you know, do you all really want to traumatize her anymore then she is by staring at her nonstop?"

After that, the people around me started to disappear. I secretly found myself thanking the crimson-eyed meanie-pants. Then Natsume took his seat next to me, propping his feet on the table. I slowly realized he probably just wanted all those people to move so he could sit.

I would never tell him about that dream I had that he was holding me, safe and warm.

* * *

**This is definitely not my favorite chapter. :3 And sorry it took so long. :3 I go back to school on Monday, so I've been getting ready for it.**

**Thanks for reading this chapter~ fight, fight~!**

**~Liz**


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